We cannot pronounce a judgment which has brought forth a flood of petitions: Bench; The BJP leader’s lawyer withdrew the petition
New Delhi, January 7
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday refused to hear the petition of former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, in which she objected to the 45-day limit for filing an election petition. It was demanded to do The court said that the period is fixed under the relevant law and it is not the function of the court to make law and by lifting the bar, the court cannot cause a flood of such petitions.
Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued a notice on Maneka Gandhi’s petition challenging the election of Samajwadi Party’s Ram Bhual Nishad from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency of UP during the general elections held last June. Responses have been sought from other parties including Diya and Nishad within four weeks.
It is to be noted that under Section 81 of the Representation of the People Act, an election petition can be filed within a period of 45 days from the date of election. It is to be noted that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bibi Gandhi, who is contesting from the BJP, lost to SP’s Nishad by 43,174 votes.
“We do not want to open the floodgates for a flood (of petitions),” the bench said. We are not prepared to consider the petition because you want us to legislate, which we cannot do. You want us to declare the period of 45 days fixed under the law as invalid, you want us to fix 60 days or 90 days, that is, anyway you want us to make a law which cannot be done.”
Senior counsel Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Gandhi, withdrew the petition, which sought a reconsideration of the 1973 Hukumdev Narayan Yadav judgment on time limits under the Representation of the People Act for election petitions. And instructions were given to strictly follow the procedures. -News-Patiala
